Chinatown 2.0: the difficult flowering of an ethnically themed shopping area

Right in Amsterdam’s picturesque Canal Zone, on and around Zeedijk, Chinese entrepreneurs have carved out a presence in what seems like the local Chinatown. The businessmen have been targeting Asian and non-Asian customers by offering products that – to an extent – can be associated with Asia, China in particular. Since the early 1990s, individual entrepreneurs and their business organisations have campaigned for official acknowledgement of Zeedijk as an ethnic-only district and for governmental support of the enhancement of Chineseness. Following Hackworth and Rekers. [(2005). “Ethnic Packaging and Gentrification. The Case of Four Neighborhoods in Toronto.” Urban Affairs Review 41 (2): 211–236], we argue that this case challenges traditional understandings of ethnic commercial landscapes. In sharp contrast to the current orthodoxy, which would conceive the proliferation of such an ‘ethnic enclave’ as part of a larger process of assimilation, we have approached Amsterdam’s Chinatown first and foremost as a themed economic space: Chinese and other entrepreneurs compete for a share of the market and in doing also for the right to claim the identity of the area. What is the historical development of the Zeedijk area, how did Chinese entrepreneurs and their associations try to boost Chinatown and negotiate public Chineseness, and how did governmental and non-governmental institutional actors respond to those attempts?     

The ethnic landscape of rural Australia: Non-Anglo-Celtic immigrant communities and the built environment

Rural ethnic minorities occupy unique economic, social, as well as geographical places in Australian society. Non-Anglo-Celtic immigrants have transformed the rural landscapes through the construction of public and private spaces expressing their cultural heritage. These sites can also significantly impact the dynamics of social cohesion and inter-cultural relations in multicultural rural communities. The paper explores the potential role of the sites built by rural ethnic minorities in promoting both intra-group solidarity and inter-group dialogue. It also provides insights into complexities of multicultural place-making. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part briefly explores the literature on the migration and heritage, place, belonging and social cohesion, and the relationship between social capital and the built environment. The second part outlines empirical findings from Griffith, a regional town in New South Wales. The focus is on the places built by Italian immigrants, such as the Italian clubs and the recently built Italian Museum and Cultural Centre. The construction of these places facilitated a sense of solidarity among the Italian immigrants and expressed their belonging to place. However, the immigrant's attempts at place-making simultaneously involved inscribing a degree of exclusivity and a strategy of becoming more a part of their new environment. In doing this there is also potential for multicultural place-making to intensify the existing intra- and inter-group tensions.     

蒙古国的民族问题与民族政策

蒙古国的民族构成以蒙古族为主,占总人口的90％以上,蒙古族内的十几个部族虽然在方言、风俗习惯和服饰上有所差别,但能自由交流。哈萨克、乌梁海、图瓦、霍屯等突厥民族只占6％多一点。蒙古国民族问题的主要表现是哈萨克族的迁徙问题。在1991-1992年间就有4.1万人迁居到哈萨克斯坦国。迁徙的主要原因：一是蒙古国历届政府对民族理论和民族宗教政策的研究落实不得力;二是受国际大气候的影响,泛民族主义意识抬头。针对这种情况,蒙古国政府采取了协商解决一切问题的方针,及时出台了一些政策法规,收到了较好的成效。     

论我国民族地区的小城镇发展问题

加快民族地区的城镇化进程 ,提高民族地区的城镇化水平是加速我国民族地区经济社会发展和全面建设小康社会的必由之路和必然选择。民族地区的城镇化建设既要坚持大中小城镇协调发展的方针和原则 ,同时又要突出小城镇发展这个基础和重点。在新世纪新阶段 ,民族地区的小城镇建设的总体思路是 :科学规划、合理布局 ,提高质量、注重效益 ,量力而行、稳定推进     

论民族区域自治是国家的一项基本政治制度

民族区域自治从最初的党解决民族问题的一项政策演变到今天被确定为国家的一项基本政治制度 ,经历了长期的探索、实践和比较的过程。将民族区域自治确定为国家的一项基本政治制度 ,标志着我国民族区域自治制度进入了新的发展阶段     

新疆民考民大学生英语自主学习情况调查分析

文章通过摸底实验、问卷调查和访谈形式,对少数民族大学生的英语自主学习情况和思想动态做了一次全面调查。发现民考民大学生的英语自主学习情况不尽人意。民考民大学生在进行英语自主学习时,对老师能给予合适的帮助的期望值较高。认为民考民大学生的英语自主学习效果与教师的有效教学和指导紧密相关,自主学习应是教师与学生共同操作和完成的过程,是一个合作体,离开教师的有效教学和指导的自主学习只会使教与学步入困境,导致无效学习。     

纳西族木氏土司时期政治文化的形成因素探析

纳西族木氏土司时期的政治文化对纳西族社会发展和纳西文明的进程起过非常重要的作用,并对历史上滇西北区域的政治稳定和民族关系的和谐做出了积极贡献。历史因素、地理环境、政治生态、主流政治文化、民族固有文化传统等社会政治环境和社会文化环境各层面的因素都对纳西族木氏土司时期政治文化的形成产生制约和影响,从而形成了这一时期纳西族以共同体主义为主要特征的政治文化。     

中国少数民族村寨人口流动特征及其影响因素分析

根据28个不同的少数民族村寨的人口流动数据资料,将其分为推力拉力不足类型、推力拉力共同作用类型、文化风俗影响类型、开发程度制约类型、开放程度推动类型、跨境收入拉动类型6种,对其人口流动的特征、规律和影响因素进行了归纳。     

傣泰民族起源与傣泰民族文化圈的形成新探

中国古代不存在一个可成其为民族的越人族体,泰人也不是越人演变而来的,傣泰民族在汉代以前的历史的追溯已无意义。傣泰民族可追溯的源流在汉代云南滇中,并随后向南迁移到今天的云南南部及东南亚一带。由于傣泰民族在长期的历史迁移与发展中保持了水稻种植、“勐-阪”制度与文化的复制模式,使傣泰民族的先民们能在长期的迁移过程中定居并壮大起来,从而在今天形成了一个傣泰民族居住的文化圈。傣泰民族文化圈是一个文化地理概念,基于共同的民族渊源关系,人们互相理解、宽容、合作、开展社会与经济的交流,共同促进民族与文化的发展,是当代理解傣泰民族文化的新思维。     

民族互嵌社区精准治理的理论向度与实践路径——以贵州省兴义市S街道社区为例

民族互嵌社区是中华民族多元一体格局空间场域延展的实践形态,是对“各民族相互嵌入式的社会结构和社区环境”这一时代命题的现实阐释。现代城市社区功能的集聚和细化为民族互嵌的再造及重释提供了场域空间,由于民族互嵌社区具有公共性、聚合性和互动性的本质特征,从而形成了立体化嵌套结构,催生出精准互嵌理论和实践的“双重愿景”:理论层面,要深刻把握民族互嵌社区精准治理的目标向度、方法向度、内容向度;实践层面,要精准识别民族互嵌社区的场域情境,以智能技术描绘民族互嵌过程的“全景图”和“晴雨表”,通过社区制度体系的精准供给,提升民族互嵌社区精准治理的效能。